The Case of the Dancing Princesses
by alien21xx
Summary: A strange young woman hires the Get Backers to retrieve for her a thing of fantasies. But how does one look for something that may not even exist?


**The Case of the Dancing Princesses**

Author: Neia7  
Warning: mild shounen ai

The bad thing about being indoors during the summer was that it was simply too hot to enjoy even the air-conditioning. Ban and Ginji slumped across the polished wood counter like dried up slugs. Each had a half-full glass of lukewarm tea, the result of the incredible heat microwaving their iced tea so that even the condensation around the glass was slightly warm. This of course did not stop Ginji from slathering the water across his sunburned face, or Ban from taking long droughts out of his drink.

The Get Backers had just returned from a successful retrieval, of which Ban had initially bragged as "easy pickings" but which turned out to be an incredible pain because they had to do it in the middle of the June heat. Ginji had been too dehydrated to even open his mouth to complain about his prickling cheeks, and Ban could no longer bring himself to be sympathetic of his friend when he himself was suffering from sunburns on his back. Taking the dress shirt off before fighting out of doors and in the middle of a heat wave had been a bad idea, but at least they got paid, and were now enjoying the cool luxuries of being a hundred grand less poor than they were before they finished the mission.

Natsumi glanced at them with wide-eyed concern as she conscientiously shut the refrigerator door before Ban decided to swipe any more ice for their tea. "Master, I don't think they're cooling down."

Wan Paul smirked from around his cigarette as he set down the glass he had been polishing. "Serves 'em right for being so damn cocky. Hevn did tell them about accepting a job like that in the middle of summer."

Natsumi gave a final worried glance at the two and would have voiced another spiel of sympathy if the door had not opened and the stale, dry heat from outside wafted in scorching waves to herald the entry of a new customer.

"Hi, is this where I can find the Get Backers?"

Evidently, sunburns and a heat wave couldn't dampen Ban's money-grubbing spirit because at the first hint of business, he was once again all cool and suave as he swept past Natsumi to greet their new client, and even managed to kick Ginji out of his stool to follow him into their usual booth.

"Yes, we're the Get Backers, Mido Ban and Amano Ginji. 100 success rate is our guarantee," Ban recited, pasting his usual brown-nosing-the-client smile on his face as he slid into the booth next to a puddle of human sludge, recognizable as Ginji only by the spiky blond hair.

"Katrina Doce." The tight smile that stretched across the young, chiseled features of their client's face implied an air of tense waiting as she shook each of the Get Backers' hands, her expression lightening somewhat when Ginji gave her a droopy smile, even as Ban gave her a calculating look from behind the safety of his sunglasses.

Katrina looked to be pretty young, maybe in her early twenties, with glistening, pin-straight black hair that looked like it had gone through one too many rebonding treatments, and striking Castillian features. Ban deduced she must be one of the few from the Iberian peninsula, hanging around Japan, which probably meant that...

"Maria Noches sent me."

At the mention of the witch's name, Ban groaned inwardly. _How_ many times must that woman barge into his life? Bad enough she knew about Ginji; did she really have to send lackeys to check up on him like he was a petulant teenager?

Ginji managed another smile without melting into slag. "Did Maria-san sent you to check on Ban-chan? 'Cause I think he burned his back real bad and—" Whatever else Ginji had been about to say disappeared in the muffled crash that was the result of his face colliding with Ban's knuckle.

"Yes, was there something we could get back for you?" Ban interrupted pleasantly, keeping his fist on Ginji's chibi face.

Katrina gave the two a confused sort of smile, as if wondering if she'd just happened on two loony teenagers gone completely whack from the severe heat. "Um, yes, I wanted you to get back an heirloom for me. Maria said you two might be able to understand and help because—" she shifted uncomfortably "—well, this is gonna sound incredibly stupid..." She giggled slightly, tensely.

"What is?" Ban prompted, still smiling, still digging his fist into Ginji's squashed face.

In answer, Katrina produced a small music box from one of the numerous pockets of the large school backpack she carried and placed it in front of Ban.

"Mrrf hmff bnnff tchffff—!" Ginji groaned before Ban finally let him off, and Ginji wheezed violently for breath even as his hands twitched to touch the trinket. "Ban-chan, look, it's like an antique or something!"

Ban blinked at the little box placed innocently on the table in front of Katrina. It was only slightly larger than his fist and made of finely carved black wood, perhaps ebony. There was writing printed on the lid of the box, but whatever that had said was now unreadable because of the years of wear the box had probably gone through. Ginji reached across the table to marvel over the little box, when Katrina flipped the lid open.

Tinkling sounds of clockwork music began as eleven wax figures of ballerina princesses sprang to life inside the velvet-lined box and spun around in perfect syncopation with the music. Ban watched them in silence.

"Wow!" Ginji and Natsumi (when had she sidled up to their booth?) exclaimed together, clasping each others hands as they watched the eleven dancing princesses in avid wonder.

"My grandmother entrusted me this a few weeks before she died. She said I was on no account supposed to let it leave my person, except... I guess it's okay if I have to show it to you if you're to find her."

"Find who?" Ban wondered, beginning to think he and Ginji should probably just enjoy their hundred grand for the moment, and not bother with Maria's lackeys.

"My grandmother," Katrina replied patiently, with that "duh" sound in her voice. "She's gone!"

If Ban weren't so bloody-minded, he would have carted her off to the asylum. "What do you mean she's gone? I thought you said she's dead."

"No! I mean look! Her figure is missing from—"

"Ban-chan, aren't there supposed to be twelve princesses dancing?" Ginji asked suddenly, blinking up at his partner. "I remember because you read me that fairy tale a few nights ago, when I couldn't sleep."

"Ban-san! That's so sweet of you to read Ginji-san fairy tales!" Natsumi exclaimed.

Ban's face suddenly went three shades a deeper red at the sound of Paul sniggering behind his newspaper at Natsumi's news. Ginji looked quizzically at his partner and decided to wisely shut up before he got Ban into any more embarrassing situations.

Katrina smiled distractedly at them both. "Well, see, Amano-san knows the answer! Yes, there are supposed to be twelve dancing princesses according to the story, but since someone stole my grandmother, she's missing from the set."

"And this grandmother of yours, she's supposed to be one of the princesses?" Ban asked, feeling vertigo set in. This was ridiculous.

"She's the eldest princess, Priscilla, yes."

Ginji grinned excitedly, in spite of his tender, burnt cheeks. "I know that, she's the one who married the prince!"

"Yes, yes! That's her! Please, you have to help me find her! She told me, on no account must the princesses' circle be broken!"

"Or else...?" Ban prompted.

"Or else I will take the missing princess's place in the story!"

Ginji blinked, though Ban didn't even bat an eyelash. "Um, Katrina-san, I don't think you're small enough to fit in the music box to dance with the other princesses..."

"No idiot," Ban sighed, shutting the box, before more of the clockwork music could fill his head. The figurines were already making him cross-eyed. He turned to Katrina. "So how much will you pay us for this kind of work?"

Katrina didn't even pause to think. "Five million yen."

"Five million?!" Ginji crowed, his eyes widening to the size of one of Paul's saucers. "For a little wax figurine?"

"Shut up, Ginji. All right, miss, the Get Backers accept this mission!"

-end chapter 1-


End file.
